Trip to Southern UT

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Kingtriton10

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Mar 2, 2017
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Hello everyone,

So I'm looking to get back into backpacking. Its been a good 10+ years since my last trip. Im married now and looking to share these amazing experiences with my wife. I'm looking for a 3 day backpacking trip (5 days including the airport and transportation) in southern UT. The plan is to stay on the move with little stops. I really want to WOW her so that she will want to come back again. We are both in great shape with plenty of time to prepare as well. I plan on going late May/June. What are some of your favorite spots?
 
There is a virtually endless list of places that could suit your needs. For a good introduction to the Colorado Plateau in Utah, I'd start with any of the 4 national parks you can backpack in. The Needles District of Canyonlands is a classic. Wonderful scenery and routes, and you have a lot of freedom in creating a route that suits your needs, assuming permits for the sites you want are available.

Jump on it though because those permits go fast. I just checked and you can still get permits for a lot of places for late May and early June.
https://canypermits.nps.gov/
 
Given the time of year I'd stay away from the lowest elevation stuff.
 
Jackson said:
There is a virtually endless list of places that could suit your needs. For a good introduction to the Colorado Plateau in Utah, I'd start with any of the 4 national parks you can backpack in. The Needles District of Canyonlands is a classic. Wonderful scenery and routes, and you have a lot of freedom in creating a route that suits your needs, assuming permits for the sites you want are available.

Jump on it though because those permits go fast. I just checked and you can still get permits for a lot of places for late May and early June.
https://canypermits.nps.gov/
Click to expand...

Awesome. Any trails in the needles that you'd recommend above others? Also any recommended trail order?
 
The Zion area and parts of Escalante might be pretty hot by then. 5000' might be a good cutoff, stay above that. That leaves a ton of great stuff. Capitol Reef is high, lots of areas around Moab, the Swell, parts of Escalante.

Also I've gotten my ass kicked by cedar gnats around late May / early June in the Swell, though mainly in the evening. This is in bone dry weather and well away from any source of water, it's hard to figure.
 
Zion West Rim is good to backpack middle of May. A couple of us from Backcountry post did this a few years back. If you search West Rim Zion the trip reports will show up. It is only a one night trip. But Zion is good in May. At least in my opinion.

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk
 
The Needles is popular, but crowd-regulated by quotas. However, it is one of the driest backpacking destinations around here. You could end up having to carry all your water needs for the entire trip on day one.

For that general area Salt Creek do have some springs, and, if choosing the upper entry, considerably higher elevations.

My choice for May-June would be Dark Canyon in Bear's Ears. Even if it's no longer a Monument by then. There's plenty of WOW effect, guaranteed no crowds, room for big days and even a few patriots littering the access roads for that old west spice.
 
Kullaberg63 said:
The Needles is popular, but crowd-regulated by quotas. However, it is one of the driest backpacking destinations around here. You could end up having to carry all your water needs for the entire trip on day one.

For that general area Salt Creek do have some springs, and, if choosing the upper entry, considerably higher elevations.

My choice for May-June would be Dark Canyon in Bear's Ears. Even if it's no longer a Monument by then. There's plenty of WOW effect, guaranteed no crowds, room for big days and even a few patriots littering the access roads for that old west spice.
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Dark Canyon looks awesome! Will I need two vehicles or does it loop? Is it difficult to navigate around? Thanks!
 
Many options down there. Out n backs are numerous, although Woodenshoe-Peavine is a loop and likely the most popular outing.

Lean To - Youngs, another loop, is a little more adventurous. It's a long remote drive to the trailhead.

This place is huge. With only 3 days you got to hustle to make any of those loops.

Down Sundance to a basecamp and a day and a half of exploring is a good trip in the lower canyon, with limited time.

It's kinda cool when this is likely the best guide book!
 
Kullaberg63 said:
Lean To - Youngs, another loop, is a little more adventurous. It's a long remote drive to the trailhead.

This place is huge. With only 3 days you got to hustle to make any of those loops.

Down Sundance to a basecamp and a day and a half of exploring is a good trip in the lower canyon, with limited time.

It's kinda cool when this is likely the best guide book!
Click to expand...

Yea I'm currently debating the between the two.

Where at on Sweet Alice road do you park your vehicle? Can I just park it on the side of the road?

Realistically how difficult is this loop to navigate in? Seems like there could be some difficultly navigating between the lean-to and young's section outside of the canyon. I use to go with a buddy of mine in the past that was the "navigator". Would this require much experience before preforming the loop?

Does GPS work in this section well?
 
I have not done the Lean To - Youngs loop. But I have been out the road to where you would presumably park, namely the cow pond at the fork, el. 7116. From there I explored Bowdie, another remote canyon. I've been both in Lean To and Youngs from the Sundance TH. The route in/out Lean To is worth reading up on, seems a little complicated. Youngs is part of the Hayduke trail, for whatever that's worth.

GPS is reliable. Rim walking, as in what's needed to connect this loop, especially do not pose any issues for satellite reception.
 
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